Light for Oral Anesthesia Injection Syringe

ABSTRACT

A light for use with an oral anesthesia syringe that is received into a passageway of a barrel of the light. When the syringe is received into a first opening in a proximal end of the barrel&#39;s passageway, the needle of the syringe extends through a second opening at the proximal end of the barrel. At least one lamp and preferably a plurality of lamps at the distal end of the barrel illuminate the needle and the interior of a patient&#39;s mouth. A battery is included in the light for powering the lamps. The insertion of the syringe into the barrel may a pair of contacts to cause the battery to power the lamps, or the battery may be removed to remove power from the lamps. A disposable integrated syringe and light combination is also described.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of pending U.S. application Ser. No.14/165,537, filed Jan. 27, 2014, and due to issue on Jan. 26, 2016, asU.S. Pat. No. 9,241,618, fully included by reference herein, and claimspriority benefit thereof. application Ser. No. 14/165,537, in turn, wasa continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/750,111,filed Jan. 25, 2013, which issued on Dec. 16, 2014, as U.S. Pat. No.8,911,409, entitled “Light for Oral Anesthesia Injection Syringe”, fullyincluded by reference herein, and claims priority benefit thereof.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO COMPACT DISC(S)

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to the administration of oralanesthesia into a patient's mouth using a syringe, and, in particular,to lighting of the interior of a patient's mouth during theadministration of oral anesthesia.

2. Information Disclosure Statement

It is well-known for dentists to use prior art oral anesthesia injectionsyringes, such as the prior art syringe shown in FIG. 1, to anesthetizea patient's mouth during dental surgery. A problem is that access to theinside of a patient's mouth is limited by the size of the patient'smouth opening, and it is difficult to adequately illuminate the insideof the patient's mouth so that the dentist can view the injection siteduring application of the anesthesia. Typically a light mounted on amovable arm is used to illuminate the inside of the patient's mouth, butthe dentist's head and hands can impede illumination of the inside ofthe patient's mouth by the light. Also, when the dentist moves tovarious injection sites inside the patient's mouth, the light on themovable arm may have to be repositioned between injections so as toprovide sufficient illumination inside the patient's mouth.

It is therefore desirable to have a light inside the patient's mouththat directly illuminates the desired injection sites as the oralanesthesia injection syringe is moved from one injection site toanother. It is further desirable to provide a “hands free” means oflighting the inside of the patient's mouth that moves with the oralanesthesia injection syringe and that does not require an additionalhand to manage the positioning of the lighting of the inside of thepatient's mouth.

It is further desirable to provide a single-use disposable oralanesthesia injection syringe that illuminates the inside of a patient'smouth.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a light for use with an oral anesthesia syringethat is received into a passageway of a barrel of the light. When thesyringe is received into a first opening in a proximal end of thebarrel's passageway, the needle of the syringe extends through a secondopening at the proximal end of the barrel. At least one lamp andpreferably a plurality of lamps at the distal end of the barrelilluminate the needle and the interior of a patient's mouth. A batteryis provided in the light for powering the lamps. The insertion of thesyringe into the barrel closes a pair of contacts to cause the batteryto power the lamps, or the battery may be removed in order to removepower from the lamps.

It is an object of the present invention to provide illumination of theneedle of an oral anesthesia syringe and of the anesthesia injectionsite within a patient's mouth. It is a further object of the inventionto provide self-contained “hands free” illumination within the patient'smouth that moves together with the anesthesia syringe, without havingcords or wires that extend out of the patient's mouth to an externalpower source.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a single-usedisposable oral anesthesia injection syringe that illuminates the insideof a patient's mouth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view of a prior art oral anesthesia injection syringefor use with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the distal end of the present invention.

FIG. 3 rear view of the proximal end of the present invention with thebattery inserted.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a first side of the first embodiment of theflexible circuitry of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a second side of the first embodiment of theflexible circuitry of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the battery of the present invention, removedfrom the battery compartment.

FIG. 7 is an end view of the battery of the present invention showingthe battery contacts, taken substantially along the line 7-7 shown inFIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a schematic of the present invention using the firstembodiment of the flexible circuitry.

FIG. 9 is a schematic of the present invention using the secondembodiment of the flexible circuitry, showing the circuit beingcompleted by the metal barrel of the oral anesthesia injection syringe.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the second side of the second embodiment ofthe flexible circuitry of the present invention, showing the circuitbeing completed by the metal barrel of the oral anesthesia injectionsyringe.

FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the present invention, taken substantiallyalong the line 11-11 shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 12 is another bottom view of the present invention, similar to FIG.11 but with the oral anesthesia injection syringe being insertedtherewithin for use in combination with the present invention.

FIG. 13 is top view of the present invention, taken substantially alongthe line 13-13 shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 14 is side view of the present invention, taken substantially alongthe line 14-14 shown in FIG. 2. The view from the other side issubstantially a mirror image of FIG. 14.

FIG. 15 is a side sectional view of the present invention showing theinternal structure, taken substantially along the line 15-15 shown inFIG. 13.

FIG. 16 shows a bottom view of a second preferred embodiment of the oralinjection syringe of the present invention that is disposable andsingle-use.

FIG. 17 shows a top view of the second preferred embodiment of the oralinjection syringe of the present invention.

FIG. 18 shows a side view of the second preferred embodiment of the oralinjection syringe of the present invention, taken substantially alongthe line 18-18 shown in FIG. 17. The view from the other side issubstantially a mirror image of FIG. 18.

FIG. 19 shows the power circuit board with batteries of the secondpreferred embodiment of the oral injection syringe of the presentinvention connected by wires to its LED assembly circuit board, andshowing in dotted outline the removal of the insulating strip to applypower to the LED lights.

FIG. 20 shows a schematic of the second preferred embodiment of the oralinjection syringe of the present invention and showing in dotted outlinethe removal of the insulating strip to apply power to the LED lights.

FIG. 21 is a side view of the cylindrically-symmetric sleeve of thesecond preferred embodiment of the oral injection syringe of the presentinvention. The view from all sides is the same.

FIG. 22 is a rear view of the cylindrically-symmetric sleeve, takensubstantially along the line 22-22 shown in FIG. 21.

FIG. 23 is a front view of the cylindrically-symmetric sleeve, takensubstantially along the line 23-23 shown in FIG. 21.

FIG. 24 is a front view of the second preferred embodiment of the oralinjection syringe of the present invention, taken substantially alongthe line 24-24 shown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 25 is a partial sectional view of the second preferred embodimentof the oral injection syringe of the present invention, showing detailsof the cylindrically-symmetric sleeve, spring, and barbed shaft of theplunger, taken substantially along the line 25-25 shown in FIG. 18.

FIG. 26 is a bottom view of the third embodiment of the light of thepresent invention with the oral anesthesia injection syringe beinginserted therewithin for use in combination with the third embodiment.

FIG. 27 is another bottom view of the third embodiment of the light ofthe present invention, similar to FIG. 26 but without the oralanesthesia injection syringe being inserted.

FIG. 28 is a front view of the third embodiment of the light of thepresent invention, taken substantially along the line 28-28 shown inFIG. 26.

FIG. 29 is a top view of the third preferred embodiment of the light ofthe present invention without the oral anesthesia injection syringebeing inserted.

FIG. 30 is a side view of the third preferred embodiment of the light ofthe present invention without the oral anesthesia injection syringebeing inserted. The view from the other side is substantially a mirrorimage of FIG. 30.

FIG. 31 is a rear view of the third preferred embodiment of the light ofthe present invention without the oral anesthesia injection syringebeing inserted, taken substantially along the line 31-31 shown in FIG.29.

FIG. 32 is a schematic of the third preferred embodiment of the light ofthe present invention, showing in dotted outline the removal of theinsulating strip to apply power to the LED lights.

FIG. 33 is an exploded perspective view of the third preferredembodiment of the light of the present invention, showing how thevarious pieces are assembled together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a typical well-known prior art oral anesthesia syringe 20such as would be used with the present invention. A suitable oralanesthesia injection syringe for use with the present invention is thewell-known oral anesthesia injection syringe sold by Patterson DentalSupply, Inc., 1031 Mendota Heights Rd., St. Paul, Minn. 55120, U.S.A.The syringe 20 typically has a hypodermic needle 22 that is threadedlyreceived onto a fitting 24 at the front or distal end 26 of the tubularbody 28 of the syringe 20. A glass vial 30 of a local anesthetic isreceived into the body 28, and elongated side openings 32 are providedin the body 28 so that the amount of anesthetic within vial 30 can beobserved. Finger grips 34 are provided for the dentist's fingers, and athumb-operated plunger 36 is pushed into the vial 30 to cause injectionof the anesthetic through the hypodermic needle 22, with an outerposition of plunger 36 being shown in dotted outline. The parts ofsyringe 20 are typically made of stainless steel so that the syringe 20may be sterilized in an autoclave. The tubular body 28 of the syringe 20has a certain body outer diameter 38, typically about 10 mm.

FIGS. 2-15 of the drawings show the structure of the light 40 of thefirst preferred embodiment of the present invention, with FIGS. 9 and 10showing an alternate embodiment, described hereinbelow, of thecircuitry.

Light 40 includes a barrel 42 having a proximal end 44 and a distal end46, and barrel 42 has a first opening 48 at proximal end 44 and a secondopening 50 at distal end 46. Barrel 42 further has a longitudinalpassageway 52 therethrough from first opening 48 to second opening 50,with passageway 52 having a transverse inner diameter 54 larger than thecertain body outer diameter 38, for closely receiving the tubular body28 of syringe 20 therewithin, with the tubular body 28 of syringe 20extending through the first opening 48 and with the needle 22 extendingout of the second opening 50 as best seen in FIG. 12. Preferably thetransverse inner diameter 54 is about 1 mm or so larger than the certainbody outer diameter 38 so that the syringe 20 will be frictionallyretained within the passageway 52 of light 40. It will be understoodthat first opening 48, second opening 50, and passageway 52 arepreferably co-axial on the longitudinal axis of barrel 42.

Light 40 further includes an electrical circuit 56 including at leastone lamp 58 and preferably a plurality of lamps 58, such as the threelight emitting diode (“LED”) lamps shown in the preferred embodiments oflight 40, proximate the distal end 46 of barrel 42, preferablyencircling second opening 50 so as to fully illuminate the needle 22 andthe anesthesia injection site in the patient's mouth. Electrical circuit56 preferably includes a printed circuit pattern on a piece of flexiblemylar 60 having a ring 62 with a center hole 64 to allow the needle ofthe syringe 22 to pass therethrough. Each lamp 58 is respectivelymounted within a pair of holes 66, 68 in ring 62 that complete thecircuit to a battery 70. Battery 70 is preferably rechargeable, as byputting battery 70 in a well-known battery charger, and is received in abattery compartment 72 of barrel 42. Battery 70 has a pair of contacts74, 76 that contactingly and matingly engage contacts 78, 80 on themylar circuitry. Battery 70 is preferably asymmetrically shaped to matchthe opening 82 of compartment 72 so that battery 70 can only be insertedcorrectly into compartment 72, and a plurality of small transversechannels 84 are preferably provided on an outer surface of battery 70for ease of removal of the battery 70 as by engaging channels 84 with auser's fingernail through an access opening 85 into battery compartment72. If desired, contacts 78, 80 on the mylar circuitry may be providedwith springs 86, 88 to provide better contact with contacts 74, 76 ofbattery 70.

In the first embodiment 56 of the electrical circuit, power is appliedto lamps 58 when the battery 70 is inserted into the battery compartment72, thereby completing the circuit as battery contacts 74, 76connectingly engage with contacts 78, 80 on the mylar circuitry.Likewise, power is removed from lamps 58 when the battery 70 is removedfrom the battery compartment 72.

An alternate or second embodiment 56′ of the electrical circuit is shownin FIGS. 9 and 10, in which a modified version 60′ of the mylarcircuitry is used. It shall be understood that many aspects of the twopreferred embodiments of the electrical circuits 60, 60′ aresubstantially the same, and only the differences will be treated indetail, it being understood that similar structural features of the twoembodiments perform similar functions.

In the second embodiment 56′ of the electrical circuit, the electricalcircuit 56′ includes a pair of contacts 90, 92, preferably leaf springcontacts as shown, interposed between battery 70 and lamps 58. Contacts90, 92 have a first condition, when the tubular body 28 of syringe 20 isnot received within passageway 52, in which there is no electricalcontinuity between contacts 90, 92 (see solid outline of syringe 20 inFIG. 9), and a second condition, when the tubular body 28 of syringe 20is received within passageway 52 (see dotted outline of syringe 20′ inFIG. 9, and solid outline of syringe 20 in FIG. 10), in which there iscaused to be electrical continuity between contacts 90, 92. Preferablythis second condition of electrical continuity is made by the metal oftubular body 28 of syringe 20 completing the circuit between contacts90, 92 and causing current to flow between contacts 90 and 92 throughthe conducting metal of tubular body 28, but the electrical continuitymay be caused by mechanical engagement of tubular body 28 with one orboth of contacts 90, 92 so as to cause contacts 90 and 92 to directlyengage each other for current flow therebetween.

Preferably, the barrel 42 may include one or more elongated viewingopenings 94, 96 so that the amount of anesthetic within vial 30 ofsyringe 20 can be observed during administration of local anesthesia tothe patient. A cap 98 is preferably included at the distal end 46 ofbarrel 42 with there being a slot 100 in cap 98 in alignment with eachlamp 58 to allow illumination from lamps 58 to pass to the anesthesiasite and to the needle 22. Light 40 is preferably constructed ofmaterials allowing disinfecting of the light before and after use.

To use the light of the first preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the battery 70 is first charged in a well-known batterycharger and then is inserted into the battery compartment 72. Thehypodermic needle 22 is threadedly received onto fitting 24, and a vial30 of anesthetic is placed within the syringe 20, and the syringe 20 isthen inserted into and received within the passageway 52 of the light40, with the tubular body 28 of the syringe 20 extending through thefirst opening 48 and with hypodermic needle 22 extending out of secondopening 50. The lamps 58 will illuminate the needle 22 and theanesthesia injection site within the patient's mouth as the syringe 20is used.

FIGS. 16-24 show a second preferred embodiment of an oral injectionsyringe 2.40 of the present invention, in which the syringe and thelight are provided as an integrated unit. FIGS. 26-33 show a thirdpreferred embodiment of the light 3.40 of the present invention. Likethe first preferred embodiment 40 of the light of the present invention,the third embodiment light 3.40 of the present invention is used with atypical well-known prior art oral anesthesia syringe 20 as previouslydescribed in connection with the first embodiment light 40 and as shownin FIG. 1.

The construction of the second preferred embodiment 2.40 permits thesyringe with light combination 2.40 to be provided pre-sterilized in asealed sterile package that is opened when the syringe is needed to beused. Such a syringe and light combination 2.40 permits the syringe andlight combination to be disposed after the single use, thereby reducingor eliminating the possibility of contamination from patient to patientof germs that are difficult if not impossible to kill by standardautoclave or chemical sterilization practices. While the syringe andlight combination of the present invention could be sterilized bystandard autoclave or chemical sterilization procedures, the inexpensiveconstruction of the syringe and light combination of the presentinvention permits greater patient safety at minimal cost by having thesyringe and light combination 2.40 be disposable and single use.Identifying reference designators for the second preferred embodiment2.40 of the invention and the third preferred embodiment 3.40 of thepresent invention are marked similarly to the first embodiment, with thereference designators for the second preferred embodiment having aprefix of “2.” and with the reference designators for the thirdpreferred embodiment having a prefix of “3.”, and with similarstructural features of the first, second, and third embodiments havingthe same suffix (e.g., “40”, “2.40”, “3.40”, etc.). It shall beunderstood that many aspects of the three preferred embodiments aresubstantially the same, and only the differences will be treated indetail, it being understood that similar structural features of thevarious embodiments perform similar functions.

Syringe with light combination 2.40 includes a body 2.28 having aproximal end 2.44 and a distal end 2.46, with distal end 2.46 beingadapted, as by threaded fitting 2.24, for receipt of a hypodermic needle2.22. As with all embodiments, the syringe body 2.28 receivestherewithin a vial 30 of local anesthetic. Just as with prior art oralanesthesia syringes, embodiment 2.40 includes a thumb-operated plunger2.36 that has a barb 2.37 that is engagingly pushed into the rubber plug31 of anesthesia vial 30.

Syringe with light combination 2.40 also preferably includes a collet orcylindrically-symmetric sleeve 2.102 and compression spring 2.104mounted upon the shaft 2.35 of plunger 2.36, as best seen in FIG. 25.Compression spring 2.104 preferably tapers from an outer diameter ofabout 8.8 mm at its proximal end 2.106 to an outer diameter of about9.75 mm at its distal end 2.108, and distal end 2.108 engages with andis held by a nipple 2.110 of sleeve 2.102. Preferably one “dead” coil atthe proximal end 2.106 of spring 2.104 and two “dead” coils at thedistal end 2.108 of spring 2.104, and spring 2.104 preferably has acompression force of about 70 g/mm. The purpose of spring 2.104 andsleeve 2.102 is to retain vial 30 within the syringe body 2.28 as bestseen in FIG. 25. An encircling wire clip 2.112, received incircumferential groove 2.114 of shaft 2.35, retains spring 2.104 andsleeve 2.102 on shaft 2.35 when anesthesia vial 30 is not present. Afterthe anesthesia has been administered, plunger 2.36 can be retracted,such that wire clip 2.112 will engage with the narrowed bore 2.116 ofsleeve 2.102, thereby retracting sleeve 2.102 against compression spring2.104 as barb 2.37 disengages from plug 31, thereby allowing the usedanesthesia vial 30 to be removed.

Syringe with light combination 2.40 includes an electrical circuit 2.56integral with syringe and light combination 2.40, including at least onelamp 2.58 and preferably three lamps 2.58. Electrical circuit 2.56preferably includes a first circuit board 2.57 and a second circuitboard 2.59, interconnected by wires 2.61. Mounted to first circuit board2.57 are one or more batteries 2.70, each within a well-known batteryholder 2.74. Preferably at least one of batteries 2.70 completes itscircuit through a contacting plated-through hole 2.78 on circuit board2.57, and an insulating strip 2.118 is interposed between plated-throughhole 2.78 and battery 2.70, thereby interrupting the contact to battery2.70. When circuit board 2.57 is mounted into battery compartment 2.72,plated-through hole 2.78 is exposed and insulating strip 2.118 is lefthanging outside the battery compartment 2.72, as best seen in FIG. 18.To test the operation of electrical circuit 2.56, a conducting(metallic) needle is inserted through plated-through hole 2.78 andthrough insulating strip 2.118 to battery 2.70, thereby completing thecircuit between battery 2.70 and plated-through hole 2.78, therebycausing lamps 2.58 to illuminate for testing during manufacture. Removalof the test needle again causes battery 2.70 to be insulated fromplated-through hole 2.78 by insulating strip 2.118, and the top 2.73 ofbattery compartment 2.72 is closed with insulating strip 2.118 extendingoutside of battery compartment 2.72, again as best seen in FIG. 18.

To illuminate the lamps 2.58 during normal use by a dentist, the dentistsimply pulls the insulating strip 2.118 from the battery compartment2.72 (see dotted lines in FIGS. 19 and 20), thereby permittingplated-through hole 2.78 to contact battery 2.70, thereby completing thecircuit and causing the battery to power lamps 2.58. Insulating strip2.118 is thus seen to function as a single-use switch to turn the lampson during use.

Second circuit board 2.59 is mounted to distal end 2.46 of body 2.28,and a transparent cap 2.98 covers circuit board 2.59 and lamps 2.58, andlamps 2.58 shine through transparent cap 2.98.

With the exception of spring 2.104, electrical circuit 2.56, and wireclip 2.112, all parts of second embodiment 2.40 are preferablyconstructed of a sterilizable plastic so that second embodiment 2.40 canbe sterilized, enclosed in a sterile package, opened by the dentist andused, and then discarded after use on a single patient, thereby reducingtransmission of germs and diseases between patients. The dentist usesthe second embodiment to administer anesthetic just as with the firstembodiment.

Improvements have been made to the third preferred embodiment light3.40, hereinafter described, that provide for ease of construction andassembly as compared to the first preferred embodiment, and the thirdpreferred embodiment light 3.40 is disposable so that it can bepre-sterilized and provided in a sealed sterile package that is openedwhen the syringe is needed to be used, and then the third preferredembodiment light 3.40 can be disposed of after its single use.Additionally, because the third preferred embodiment is used with awell-known oral injection syringe that has already been approved bygovernmental approval bodies for use in dentistry with patients,regulatory approval is not required for the third preferred embodimentlight 3.40 that attaches to the already-approved oral injection syringe.Otherwise, the third embodiment has many similarities to the first andsecond embodiments.

Light 3.40 includes a barrel 3.42 having a proximal end 3.44 and adistal end 3.46, and barrel 3.42 has a first opening 3.48 at proximalend 3.44 and a second opening 3.50 at distal end 3.46. Barrel 3.42further has a longitudinal passageway 3.52 therethrough from firstopening 3.48 to second opening 3.50, with passageway 3.52 having atransverse inner diameter 3.54 larger than the certain body outerdiameter 38, for closely receiving the tubular body 28 of syringe 20therewithin, with the tubular body 28 of syringe 20 extending throughthe first opening 3.48 and with the needle 22 extending out of thesecond opening 3.50 as best seen in FIGS. 26 and 28. Preferably thetransverse inner diameter 3.54 is about 1 mm or so larger than thecertain body outer diameter 38 so that the syringe 20 will befrictionally retained within the passageway 3.52 of light 3.40. It willbe understood that first opening 3.48, second opening 3.50, andpassageway 3.52 are preferably co-axial on the longitudinal axis ofbarrel 3.42.

Light 3.40 further includes an electrical circuit 3.56 including atleast one lamp 3.58 and preferably a plurality of lamps 3.58, such asthe two light emitting diode (“LED”) lamps shown in the preferredembodiments of light 3.40, proximate the distal end 3.46 of barrel 3.42,preferably around second opening 3.50 so as to fully illuminate theneedle 22 and the anesthesia injection site in the patient's mouth.

Referring especially to FIG. 33, third embodiment 3.40 of the lightincludes a battery compartment 3.72 that holds a battery holder 3.73having metallic left and right battery contacts 3.74 and 3.76. It shouldbe noted that right battery contact 3.76 has a small hole 3.78therethrough in alignment with a similar small access hole 3.79 throughthe right wall of battery compartment 3.72. The left battery contact3.74 has an inwardly-bent triangular flap 3.80 that engages the positive(“+”) terminal of the leftmost battery 3.70 when all three batteries3.70 are inserted into the battery holder 3.73. Similar to the secondembodiment, an insulating strip 3.118 is interposed between rightbattery contact 3.76 and rightmost battery 3.70, thereby interruptingthe circuit and preventing batteries 3.70 from supplying power to thelamps 3.58. After light 3.40 has been assembled, proper operation ofcircuit 3.56 can be tested by inserting a conducting metallic needlethrough hole 3.78 from the outside of battery compartment 3.72, throughinsulating strip 3.118, and contacting the rightmost battery 3.70,thereby completing the circuit between rightmost battery 3.70 andcontact 3.76 and allowing batteries 3.70 to supply power to the lamps3.58.

As seen in FIG. 33, wires 3.61 carry the current to and from lamps 3.58via circuit board 3.59, and wires 3.61 are received into longitudinalgrooves 3.63 within barrel 3.42. A snap-in circuit cover 3.71, having aplurality of laterally-extending tabs 3.120 that matingly engagechannels 3.122 in barrel 3.42, is provided to produce a sealed unit,with insulating strip 3.118 extending out of the battery compartment. Atransparent cap 3.98 is then fitted to distal end 3.46 of barrel 3.42over circuit board 3.59 and LED lamps 3.58.

To illuminate the lamps 3.58 during normal use by a dentist, the dentistsimply pulls the insulating strip 3.118 from the battery compartment3.72 (see dotted line in FIG. 32), thereby permitting battery contact3.76 to contact rightmost battery 3.70, thereby completing the circuitand causing the battery to power lamps 3.58. Insulating strip 3.118 isthus seen to function as a single-use switch to turn the lamps on duringuse.

With the exception of electrical circuit 3.56, all parts of thirdembodiment 3.40 are preferably constructed of a sterilizable plastic sothat third embodiment 3.40 can be sterilized, enclosed in a sterilepackage, opened by the dentist and used, and then discarded after use ona single patient, thereby reducing transmission of germs and diseasesbetween patients. The dentist uses the third embodiment to administeranesthetic just as with the first and second embodiments.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The light of the present invention has industrial applicability whenused with an oral anesthesia injection syringe in that it illuminatesthe needle and the interior of a patient's mouth during injection of anoral anesthetic. The light is self-contained and unobtrusive and permits“hands free” operation, following the needle as the syringe is movedwithin the patient's mouth. Disposable single-use embodiments areprovided that are pre-sterilized and discarded after use, therebyreducing transmission of germs from one patient to another.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated withrespect to a preferred embodiment and a preferred use therefor, it isnot to be so limited since modifications and changes can be made thereinwhich are within the full intended scope of the invention.

1-6. (canceled) 7: An oral anesthesia injection syringe having a body, said body having a proximal end and a distal end, said distal end of said syringe being adapted for receipt of a hypodermic needle thereon, said syringe including an electrical circuit integral therewith, said electrical circuit including: (a) a plurality of lamps proximate said distal end of said body and encircling said hypodermic needle; and (b) a battery received into a compartment of said body for powering said plurality of lamps; with said plurality of lamps, when powered by said battery and when said hypodermic needle is received on said distal end of said syringe, illuminating said hypodermic needle and an injection site of said hypodermic needle. 8: The syringe as recited in claim 7, in which said syringe is pre-sterilized and disposable after use on a single patient. 